What do stingrays do

Some specimens of freshwater stingray have been known to weigh up to 1, lbs kg. Related: Giant stingray could be world's largest freshwater fish. Most species of stingrays sport dull colors that help with camouflage, though some do have more lively colors, such as the blue-spotted stingray Taeniura lymma , Kajiura said.

Stingrays, manta rays and eagle rays are all related and belong to the same order, Myliobatiformes, but each are in different families and differ from one another in several ways. For example, the manta ray's mouth is located on the front of their bodies rather than on the bottom, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA. Also, manta rays aren't hunters like stingrays, but are filter feeders, swimming with their mouth open to sift out small animals living in the water column, Kajiura said.

Manta rays also have two small appendages that stick out on either side of their mouth called cephalic fins, according to NOAA, which stingrays don't have. And while there are over species of stingrays, there are just 2 species of manta rays. Related: Rare pink manta ray caught courting lady friend down under.

Eagle rays, such as the spotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari , have angular wing flaps and a distinct snout that manta rays and stingrays don't have, according to the Florida Museum.

Eagle rays also have rounded pelvic fins near their tail, and the tail itself is much longer than either a manta ray or stingray.

Sometimes, eagle rays travel in schools and will leap completely out of the water to avoid predators, according to the Florida Museum. Stingrays eat bottom-dwelling prey, such as worms, clams and shrimp, according to SeaWorld Orlando. Freshwater stingrays eat insects as well. As those creatures and any others move through the water, they generate a bioelectric field, or electrical signature of sorts, said Kyle Newton, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Stingrays are able to detect the bioelectric fields of the animals around them using a network of special sensory organs called ampullae of Lorenzini.

These organs are small, fluid-filled electrical receptors that are located near the stingray's mouth and look like tiny black holes in the animal's skin, according to National Geographic.

All sharks and rays have ampullae of Lorenzini, and a few other species of fish have been reported to have the unique organs as well, including lungfish and sturgeon. Related: Clever cuttlefish 'freeze' bioelectric fields to avoid predators. Southern stingrays are related to sharks and skates.

This stingray belongs to the Family Dasyatidae, which includes 70 species of stingrays. There are only nine other species in the same genus, including the red stingray and roughtail stingray.

Southern stingrays have flat, diamond-shaped bodies with indistinct heads. They are gray to dark brown in color, with pale bellies. Male southern rays are feet across. Females are 4 feet across.

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